The Natural Capital Committee was re-established in 2016 with a mandate to advise the government on the development of its 25 Year Environment Plan and to report on progress towards its delivery.

This is the first annual report of the Natural Capital Committee’s second term. Building on the work of the NCC’s first term, it makes a series of recommendations to government, setting out a comprehensive approach to protecting and improving England’s natural capital, including: the need for ambitious objectives in the 25 Year Environment Plan; a clear governance framework for implementing the plan; using ‘Pioneer’ projects to test different initiatives; and a consistent approach to the valuation of natural capital and methods for measuring the impact of policy on natural capital.